Douglas Couvertier's campaign for office has none of the affable vacuity of George W Bush's race for the White House, nor the rancour of Hillary Clinton's attempt to assume a New York Senate seat.

But he does have something that makes him stand out from the common herd of candidates: he is asking the electorate to vote for someone else.

"I would really appreciate if people didn't vote for me," said the 54-year-old who is standing for a council seat in Southwest Ranches, Florida.

Mr Couvertier, a Miami-Dade fire department chief, did not realise when he embarked on his political career that the county prohibits employees from holding elected office. And the supervisor of elections has refused to remove him from Tuesday's ballot because 64 postal voters have already chosen him.

Now Mr Couvertier says that he will have to resign the seat immediately if he wins because he does not want to damage his pension entitlement with only three years to go before retirement. He had hoped to play a part in shaping the town's future.

"I really believe in this area," he said. "I've lived here for over 20 years and I love it here. I thought it was important for my town for me to get involved."

It seemed as though many in the settlement of 7,000 agreed, making him a frontrunner in the poll. "I stood a real good chance of being elected," he said. "People have been telling me 'you're in, you're going to win'. I am trying to stop this snowball. My fear is I still stand a real good chance of being elected."